Just Like The Good 'Ol Days ♡

After that fun Friday spent partying in Fiamma, we planned on going again the next week. At the same time, one of my friends who recently graduated, Megann, was offered a free table that came with an open bar! My college friends were going as well, so through Megann, I was given a table and open bar stubs to give to them. What a fun night, giving away drinks to everybody - felt like it was my birthday party once again! Aside from that, all my high school friends (except Shelley, who's now residing in Australia) were present!! That rarely happens, even on special occasions, so it was great to see everyone (even those not so into the partying scene, and those who are always missed) get together and have a great time.

All Zobel girls represent!! My barkada + Gail's

Chino and his friends, and Ate Riza of Fiamma

Sheng finally showed up, last saw her during summer! Bora`11 crew - "Marc Nelson"

Boyies: Ej, Rc, Chino

Couples

Some of my college friends! Zal, Kim, Val, Gail, Nicole

Girlies - Megann, RoseMae, Monica, Nina, Alyssa (me), Sheng, Kaye, Carissa, Bianca

After Fiamma, we headed to Resorts World. Chino and I have been of legal age for months now, so we decided to finally become members.

I was a casino newb, so we tried our luck with the different slot machines. We played for only P100 each, got a few credits but lost all anyway. At the end, I said, "THAT'S IT?? What a waste of money!" Haha so I guess, you won't see me gambling my money away!! Heck, I'd rather go shopping!!!

After playing in the casino, we met up again with my friends who were in UCC, then before heading to Carissa's condo in Newport, we discovered a good lighting spot to take pictures!

When we got to Newport, we chatted, laughed, watched TV, and stayed up late (like 6am late) - just like the good 'ol days (high school days!) whenever we'd sleepover (only now we have our cars to get us anywhere and condos to sleep in!). Those are the simple joys I missed!

So much stuff!!

After that, we went to BF to have really late lunch at Chicken Charlie around 3pm, then headed home.

Oh the weekend that was ♡ hopefully our next complete get together won't take months, girls!

Photo credits:
Kaye Torres & RoseMae Rubio

The Inevitable

(For GREATWK class, our professor asked us to make a comic analysis on a page of our chosen comic book, I would just like to share what I wrote, in realization of life and death. Disclaimer: I do not really read Calvin and Hobbes, what I wrote here (descriptions, etc) is just based on the few strips and research I've read.)

Calvin and Hobbes is a comic strip based on the everyday life of Calvin, a 6-year-old boy, who embarks on various adventures with Hobbes, his inanimate stuffed tiger, who Calvin treats as his best friend, companion, and “partner-in-crime”. Throughout the comic strip he is perceived to be very young, playful, mischievous, and full of curiosity in the different things in life. For a six-year-old, Calvin shows his intelligence through his deep and interesting conversations with Hobbes, his parents, and classmates. Hobbes, on the other hand, is seen as someone who’s a more mature version of Calvin, someone who guides him and at the same time, serves as his friend. In the comic strip, the readers are also brought into the story by the numerous experiences Calvin and Hobbes share. In spite of the seemingly child-like stories and adventures of the comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes, it is said to have political, social, and environmental implications.

A specific story I would like to make a comic analysis on from the comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes, is the Raccoon Story. In this story, Calvin and Hobbes found a sickly raccoon that they wished to get better. Calvin calls on his mom to help the raccoon, and was asked to prepare a restful place for the animal. They took care of the raccoon overnight, only to find out that the animal did not make it the next day. Calvin was in tears after finding out, and the scenes show the child’s emotional side with regards to the death of the raccoon he just met. The strip ends by Calvin, a six-year-old boy, trying to grasp the idea of life and death and by telling Hobbes not to leave his side.

What struck me most about this episode of the comic strip is how the writer conveys Calvin’s sensitive side, despite him being a care-free child. It also shows his innocence when it comes to the facing the reality of life and death. For a child who’s so dynamic, it must be hard for him to accept this sad reality.

Personally, I have not read a lot of comic strips, but most of what I have read did not express this much emotion that affected me. Upon reading this, I ended up teary-eyed, as I put myself in the place of Calvin. Being someone who loves animals and pets, I have encountered Calvin’s experience with death a couple times before. Some were even worse, but I had a very similar experience with this episode, so I was able to relate well.

Death is a serious and life-changing experience for everyone, especially for young ones like Calvin. It being inevitable, or part of the life cycle, does not necessarily make it easier for us to accept. How the author depicted what Calvin’s mother told him, “how we should accept death even though it is something we do not understand, and to just do the best we can with the knowledge we have”, is possibly the best way one can do to ease the pain we experience when dealing with this kind of situation. In the story, they had done everything they could do to help save the raccoon’s life, but it was still time for him to pass away, so all they could do is just to carry this experience and move on with life. This is something we should all learn from. We cannot stop death from taking our loved ones lives, but before it’s too late, we should make sure to do everything we can to show how much we value and care each other, before the inevitable happens.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_and_Hobbes

http://www.progressiveboink.com/archive/calvinhobbes.htm

Darling, I'm Just Here To Party

Friday night was amazingly fun!

It started out with family bonding over dinner. My cousin, Ana, was finally able to tag along! We didn't know where to have dinner so I chose a place we haven't tried yet - Zuni. The place looks fancy shmancy, and their menu is somewhat pricey, but the ones we tried were definitely worth the price!

For starters, aside from their warm, tasty, and crisp-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside complimentary bread and butter, I had this Tomato Prawn Bisque. It was creamy, flavorful, and contained lots of shrimp bits in it, so it satisfied me!

For my main course, I wanted to have pasta but then I saw that the price for their surf and turf was unbelievably cheap (compared to others, of course), so I was tempted to try it. The dish, Wagyu Beef Topblade and Black Tiger Prawns (the dish's name itself is already a win!), did not disappoint, as it had 3 slices of steak and around three pieces of jumbo shrimp. It came with vegetables and potato cake (something like mashed potato) and sauce that goes well with the dish.

The restaurant offers a wide variety of dessert, but being a chocoholic, I ordered Chocolate Mousse Layered with Pistachio Meringue. The dessert was okay and not as sweet as expected, so I guess it'd be perfect for those craving for chocolate yet do not want to feel high on sugar.

After our interesting conversations during dinner, we took pictures first before I met up with friends at Crocodile Grille in Greenbelt 3 then to Fiamma!

DRESS: zebra print one-sided dress from Cotton On // SHOES: nude wedges from Charles & Keith // BAG: black shoulder bag with ribbon from Zara // ACCESSORIES: gold chain necklace with blue tassels from Bedazzled Accessories // gold bangle and gold star connector ring both from Forever 21

Last time I've been to Fiamma was during my 21st party last August, so it was fun to hit the place again and have so Fresh Fridays fun! I finally got to claim my free drinks, yay! The night til early morning was spent dancing for hours and mingling with friends. 'Til next time!